BEIRUT: The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, will begin assembling a new international team next week to investigate the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The inquiry will put extra pressure on the Lebanese government and its Syrian backers. A UN fact-finding mission issued a devastating report last month accusing the Lebanese security forces of “systematic negligence” and a “distinct lack of commitment” in investigating the blast which killed Mr Hariri on Feb 14.

The team, led by the Irish deputy police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, lacked the legal power to investigate more fully. The new one, ordered by a unanimous Security Council resolution on Thursday night, will have extensive powers to gather evidence and to interview anyone in Lebanon it considers relevant. The French UN ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, said the resolution showed the strength of the council’s wish to see the truth established. “I’m confident that the commission will be able to do the job,” he told reporters. France was one of the sponsors of the resolution, with the US and Britain.

The assassination of Hariri, one of Lebanon’s most powerful post-war figures, who did much to help rebuild the country after its 15 years of civil war, has thrown Lebanon into turmoil. Suspicion that Syria was involved in the attack has exacerbated feelings against Syria. Damascus is withdrawing thousands of troops and security officers from Lebanon, bowing to strong international pressure to end its long-standing interference in its western neighbour’s affairs.

The new investigative team is expected to be much larger than Mr Fitzgerald’s mission. It may comprise as many as 50 people, including security staff.

It will be asked to complete its inquiries within three months, though this can be extended by a further three months if necessary.

The Lebanese government has denied reports that it had tried to weaken the wording of the Security Council resolution and says it will cooperate fully, but “within the framework of its sovereignty”. There is speculation in Beirut that the sovereignty issue may lead to a stand-off, as happened with the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, if the team tries to question the Syrian-backed President, Emile Lahoud, or to search his palace. The resolution also contains two potential time-bombs for Syria which could provoke further confrontations just as Damascus attempts to placate the Security Council by its troop withdrawals.

First, opposition politicians in Lebanon have blamed Syria or its Lebanese allies for Hariri’s death, and the UN investigators will almost certainly want to question senior Syrian officials in Lebanon. Syria would be in breach of the resolution if it tried to shelter these officials or failed to provide “relevant information” about the assassination. Second, the resolution describes Mr Hariri’s killing as a “terrorist act”, which means that other UN resolutions relating to terrorism apply, including 1566, which refers to compensating victims of terrorism.

There has been talk among the Lebanese opposition of making a compensation claim against Syria if the UN investigators establish a Syrian connection.

Potentially, the claim could include damage to Lebanon’s economy and amount to billions of dollars. Yesterday the Lebanese security forces stopped a pick-up truck heading toward the Syrian border carrying a bomb hidden among vegetables, security sources said.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service